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H. KRAFFT.

Horse Hay-Fork.

No. 77,496. Patented May 5 1868.

N. PETERS, PhuKo-Uihographer, Washington, .D. C.

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Letters Patent No. 77,496, dated May 5, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-FORKS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT, MAY CONCERN: 7

Be it known that I, HACK KRAFFT, of- Mulberry, in the county of York, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved Hay-Fork; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,'and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in

Figure 1 is a side view of the front side of the hay-fork, with the several parts thereof adjusted ready for plunging into a body of hay.

' Figure 2 is a view of the back side of the forlg showing the parts adjusted in proper positions for grasping and elevating a load of hay.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures. 4

This invention relates to'an improvement on forks which are particularlydesigned for use in the operation of handling and elevating loads of baled hay, wherein ropes and pulleys are employed for facilitating the raising of the'loads.

The nature of my invention consists ina rigid rectangular frame, which is suitably braced, and provided with forked'ends havingjointed points, and alsowith a central eye-attachment for a suspension-rope, in combination with jointed connecting-rods for moving said pointed ends, which rods are pivoted to and operated by a single vibrating hand-lever having-a latching-device applied to it, all as will be hereinafter described. I

' To enable othersskilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

The frame which afiords supportto the forks while embracing a load to be elevated, consists oftwo parallel arms, A A, united to a cross-head, A, at right anglestheret'o. I This frame may be readily'made of a single piece of metal, bybending it as represented in the drawings. For the purpose of bracing the arms A A and strengthening the frame, a cross-bar, B, is applied to it, which is suitably bent, so that one side of it 'will be in v a plane with the front side of theframe. Another bar, B, having an eye, a, formed on its upper extremity,is suitably applied to the cross-head A and cross-bar B, in thc' middle ofthe width of the frame, for the purpose of afi'ording an attachment for an oscillating hand-lever, C, and also a means for attaching a rope, by which the implement can be elevated with its lead of hay orother substance. The barB is afiixed to the bars A B,'in the middle of the length thereof, for. the purpose of suspending the implement centrally.

To the extremities of the parallel arms A A, points 6 b are pivoted, so as to vibrate inward 1n the plane of these arms. To thesepointed ends 5 Z rods e c are pivoted, which rods are pivoted at their upper ends to short Vibrating-levers d d, and attached tothcir respective arms by the heads of pins e e, which pins pass through oblong slots 0 c made through the arms, as shown in fig. 1. The lower ends of these rods 0 0 are suitably notched,so,as to form, in conjunction with shoulders upon the pointed pieces 15 6, abutments, which will prevent the points from. turning outward in the act of plunging them into-a body of-hay.

Theshort levers (Z d are pivoted to the front sides of the arms AA, and connected, byrods mm, to'a cross-' head, C, at equal distances from the pivotf of the hand-lever O, as shown in'fig. 1. From the rear sideof the arm 0, near the cross-head A, a stud, g, projects, which is designed to serve, in conjunction with a pivoted latch-piece, D, as a means for locking thel ever C in place when thepivoted points 66 of the forks are turned inward or at right anglesto their arms, as shown in fig. 2. I This latching-piece D is constructed with a notch or recess in its lower edge for receiving the pin or stud g, and also with an eye, 72, on one end, for allowing the pull-cord to be attached to it, which is used for releasing lever C, and discharging a load when elevated to the proper place for its discharge.

By moving lever G laterally to the position shown in fig. 1, the points 15 b will be thrown down in lines'with their respective arms A A, in which position of the parts the fork is ready to be plunged into a body of hay, the cross-head A serving as a hand-piece by which to grasp the implement. While theforked arms are in the .hay, the lever O is brought to the position shown in fig. 2, and automatically latched by means of the notched piece D. This will bring the points I; b to a position at right angles to the forked arms A, and at the same time compress theload within thespace enclosed between-said arms A and cross-bar B, and grasp it so firmly asto allow it to be elevated to any desired height.

Iamawarc that it is not new to employ, in conjunction with a. rigid forked frame, turning points and jointed arms, arranged so as to cause the. points to operate as penetrators for the arms of the frame, and then sex-ire as a means for grasping and holding the load,- as shown in the patent numbered 64,100, and therefore I do not lay claim broadly to turning-points applied to the arms of a fork-frame. I p

By my invention; I connect the rods which operate the points to a single hand-lever, and employ a latch which will hold said arm while elevating a load of hay, and then allow the arm to be released, so that the weight of the load upon the points 6 will straighten them out, and thus allow it to fall. 7

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The centrally-arranged vibrating'cross-hcad C, transverse connecting-rods m m, rocking-links d d, vertically-sliding pivoted legs a c, and the forks b b, in combination with the frame A A, the whole arranged and operated in the manner shown and described: 7

2. The latch-lever D and pin gapplied to the frame A A, in combination with a lever, CO connected to vibrating-points b b, substantially as described.

HACK KRAFFT.

Witnesses:

HENRY Lana, JNo. S. DIERDORFF. 

